HunterxHunter is owned by Yoshihiro Togashi. The anime adaption this is based off of was produced by Madhouse Studios.
Halo 3 was made by Bungie. Halo is currently owned and operated by 343 Industries and Microsoft. This takes place two years after the events of Halo 3.
AU.
There it was. Gon raised his hand over his eyes, shielding the moonlight. It was purely for effect, as the moonlight did not in any way impact his vision. Off in the distance, the nest towered up, up, up into the sky, rising far above the valley that surrounded it. The only blemish in an otherwise exquisite view. It would take a few days to even make it to the nest at their current speed, and they wouldn't be going at that speed as they closed on it if they wanted to remain undetected, which they did. Kite stood between him and Killua, looking grim.
"We should hurry. The king will be born soon, and if we don't kill the Queen in that time, humanity as a whole will be at risk." Kite announced dramatically. Gon gulped slightly.
"Are you sure we can make it?" Killua asked, sighing. "This timeframe is a bit tight."
"We're the only Hunters with a lead. A few more have been called on, but as far as I know, none have returned from inside NGL. Of course, I haven't been in contact with anyone for a week." Kite briefed them on their situation. "Hopefully that's changed. I can't imagine what the king would become if he gained the power all Hunters possess." He was, of course, referring to nen, the ability to manipulate one's aura to give oneself nearly supernatural power.
"Are you sure we can't get any help?" Gon asked Kite curiously, and he looked back down on him.
"If you can come up with someone who could deal with this, without stretching one's imagination, then maybe." Kite said. He wanted to focus on planning, and this would be a way to shut Gon up for a few minutes while not hurting his feelings or ego in any way. Gon sat and started to think.
Who could we try to ask, if we could contact them? Kurapika? No, he's on his quest. Leorio? No, Leorio's not equipped to handle this. Biscuit? No, I don't know how to contact her. Gon's brow scrunched up in frustration. How about who passed with us? Hisoka? He was busy at Greed Island. What about Hanzo? Crap, I don't have a way to contact him either… What about…
Gon smiled happily, surprising Killua. Kite was still staring at the Anthill, ignoring Gon.
"What is it, Gon?" Killua asked, attracting Kite's attention. He'd been with Gon long enough to know Gon had a plan.
"I know who we could try to contact, but we'll have to leave NGL." Gon said, smiling. He wasn't wrong; all their electronics were currently being held in a tree. But that was a big risk. If he was wrong, he would have delayed them possibly for days, and days were exactly the amount of time they had.
"Who?" Killua asked. He was confused, but trusted his friend.
"Who else passed with us?" Gon asked, starry-eyed and refusing to give any more explanation. He wanted it to be dramatic.
"Kurapika, Leorio, Hisoka, Pokkle, uh, Hanzo, and…" Killua broke into a grin. "Kite, Gon's a genius." Gon smiled and rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.
"Who is it, Gon?" Kite asked, curious now. It was probably dumb, but never hurt to try.
"Not just one. There's six of them." Gon said. Killua's eyes widened.
"Do you think he can convince the other five?" Killua asked, surprised. Gon smiled and nodded.
"Yeah! He told me about the Flood. If he tells his friends the Chimera Ants are like them, they'll come for sure!" Gon said, excited. And in truth, they were. Like the Flood, they would gorge themselves and the Queen on whatever animal life they could find for her, and she would reproduce based on the genetic information of whatever creature she consumed; be it bug, fish, or even human. Unfortunately, reports had been flowing in that there had been humans that were disappearing, and it was traced to the Chimera Ants. Killua half-nodded, before pausing.
"Gon, um, what's the Flood?" Killua asked, confused. Gon had been the only one around to hear his war stories. Kite was absolutely lost, and had been standing off up until this point.
"Eh, that's a bit of a story for such a rushed timeline…" Gon said. His story-telling skills weren't nearly on par with hers, anyhow. "So, do we all agree we need to contact him?" Killua nodded, and Kite sighed.
"Honestly, I need details before I agree to this." Kite grunted. He didn't doubt by now that Gon had an ok idea, but he doubted it was anything more than that, and he needed details before agreeing to a possibly enormous waste of time. To his surprise, Gon nodded knowingly.
"There were six, but one wasn't a part of the other five…"
The three Hunters walked back into the enormous tree. It had taken a day and a quarter to get back from the ridge they were on which overlooked the valley, but hopefully it would be well worth it. If he agreed, it would spell certain doom for the Chimera Ants, at least until the Royal Guards were unleashed. Kite hadn't specified what would happen at that point, but Gon could tell it was awful. He knew that they could still triumph, but it would be difficult if the Royal Guards were brought into play.
"We're here to retrieve our items. We'll be returning to NGL just afterwards." Kite announced to the security guard, who nodded without looking up. Kite opened Gon's backpack and handed him his phone. Gon tapped the app Cortana had installed on his phone in Yorknew City. After waiting a few seconds, Gon was treated to Cortana's chirpy voice and her face appeared on his phone.
"You've reached the number of the Demon, how may I direct your call?" She asked cheerfully.
"Cortana, your face and voice are different!" Gon exclaimed, surprised.
"I was nearing rampancy, so my memory was temporarily filed away while I was replicated. My consciousness was inserted into this a few months ago. Anyways, hi, Gon! How goes things, you happy-go-lucky little spikeball?" Cortana asked, her voice ignoring all the previous explanation. Killua covered his mouth and ducked down, a fit of coughing erupting.
"I need your help." Gon said frankly. Cortana smiled.
"Not the help of the Savior of Humanity himself?" Cortana asked sarcastically, eyeing him. Gon smiled and rolled his eyes.
"No, I need his help, too. And Noble Team, and anyone else you can call." Gon said, tone turning serious. Cortana matched his tone and raised him.
"I see. Let me connect you to him. He's supposed to be sleeping, but he's actually just resting his eyes." Cortana said, returning to her prior chirpy tone briefly. After a moment, her face disappeared and his helmet appeared instead.
"What is it, Gon?" Master Chief asked.
"We have a serious issue. They're called Chimera Ants, and they're nearing the point of spreading beyond our control." Gon said. "They're like the Flood." He emphasized the word, knowing it was Chief's trigger. Master Chief instantly became even more stern.
"I understand. Send me the coordinates of the infestation, I'll let ONI know. We should be there within a week." Chief sounded like he was snarling, but in reality, his voice was just becoming a bit deeper.
"There's not enough time for that." Gon said, beginning to feel chills run up and down his spine as he realized he might not be able to make it. "We need you here faster than that." Chief stopped himself just before shutting his connection off.
"Faster than that… Alright. I'll let Noble in on it, and have the admiralty know that in order to save another race, I'll be gone for a few days." Master Chief said, in a businesslike manner.
"Got it. See you in a few, Chief!" Gon said, hanging up. He replaced the phone in his bag, and turned to Kite.
"Alright, let's head back!" The boy announced. Killua nodded, but Kite looked concerned.
"Doesn't look like he'll make it in time." Kite sighed, feeling the weight of failure.
"He'll get it done. He is known as the Demon." Gon reassured Kite, walking out of the tree.
The return journey took an hour longer, but when they made it, they noted the Queen's guards had not emerged yet, to everyone's relief. He sat on the ridge, staring out at the ugly brown patch in the middle of the beautiful forest.
"Well, now we wait." Gon said, laying back. The others agreed, but after a few hours, Kite was getting more and more restless.
"Gon, the Guards are only hours away from hatching." Kite warned him, feeling the beginnings of fear. Gon just looked at him, before looking back to see a dozen or so Ants take flight, going to collect more food. He sighed, hoping Master Chief would arrive soon enough that Kite wouldn't rashly try to invade the palace on his own. His hopes were realized when he heard a deafening screech that echoed throughout the valley. He and his companions looked up to see a gaping black hole simply appearing out of thin air, high above the forest below. Even so, the trees closest to the portal were torn from their roots and ripped towards it. An absolutely enormous thing careened out of it, and the trees impacted it, but shattered, and their remaining infinitesimal particles fluttered to the ground. It looked as if the enormous spaceship, for that was what it was in its most basic form, had undershot the palace; with the portal being five kilometers away from it, outside the valley. After around five seconds, it finally fully exited the portal, which promptly disappeared and burst outwards, knocking over most trees beneath it. The ship hadn't undershot the palace at all. In fact, it was perfectly aligned, with the bow remaining motionless over the palace, even though the portal had been five kilometers away. A few small flashes of light that had originated from the ship blasted the Chimera Ant patrol out of the sky. A dozen or so more Ants flew up over the crest of a small hill in the valley and stopped when they saw the Covenant Assault Carrier above their Queen's palace.
Colt rushed out onto the balcony alongside Peggy and stared upwards, for that was the only action they could undertake. Something larger than anything they'd ever seen was floating above them, and though most of the Ants were currently at the colony, they didn't have anything that could knock it out of the sky. He clenched his fists and turned to Peggy.
"What is that thing?" He demanded of Peggy, who could only shrug. Colt leaned in close to his face, only an inch or so apart. "If you don't know, look. It. Up." He said, a tinge of both anger and panic in his voice. He inhaled deeply, before exhaling and telepathically informing the Queen. He looked up to see what looked like hundreds of ants exiting a nest. The "ants," unbeknownst to Colt, were a combination of phantoms and pelicans, with banshee and falcon support, exiting the CAS-class Swords of Sangheilios Assault Carrier, Impeccable Solitude. A multitude of the dropships flew to the edges of the valley, trying to ensure no ants escaped the enclave they had secured for themselves. The majority of the others scattered and dropped their supplies or soldiers in what had been marked as villages on local maps, but the rest were flying straight towards Colt. Colt shook his head, no, they weren't after him. They were after her!
Gon smiled as he saw seven banshees beginning to spray their rapid-fire plasma weapons at the dozen Ants that had foolishly broadcast their existence by peaking over the hilltop. They snapped out of their stance and began dodging the incoming fire, but a pair trying to fly away were picked off by the phantom that had accompanied the banshees. The phantom was sure to keep the Ants contained as the banshees made their runs. One banshee boosted into the center mass, hitting four Ants at full speed. They fell out of the air, dead before hitting the ground, which also followed the hit and run. The banshee whipped around and made another pass on the Ants. Killua was laughing at all the mayhem, while Kite sat on the ground, surprised. He wouldn't do anything different, were he in charge of the operation. They had planned it out very, very well in order to exterminate every Ant. The carrier began launching pods from its underbelly, and Gon's grin grew. He was feeling so powerful, even though he really hadn't done anything. He was usually on the receiving end of the bad odds, so he felt satisfaction on being on the flip side of the coin for once. He watched the pods streak across the sky, landing in a plume of dust near the palace. A few crashed into the palace itself, and inside, he knew Chief was in one of those pods. He knew that the Demon was riding on a pale horse, so to speak.
"Gon." Kite said quietly, though not quietly enough that he couldn't be heard over the roars of the fray.
"Hmm?" Gon asked, innocently enough. He didn't feel it necessary to turn to Kite while addressing him.
"You made good friends, Gon. Very good friends." Kite said, smiling for the first time in a while.
The pod doors slid open, and Chief leapt out from the interior of the Covenant drop pod, along with Thel, Carter, and Emile. The other three Spartans of Noble Team and Rtas 'Vadum were in a second drop pod. The other four drop pods that landed in the palace itself were filled with a mix of camouflaged Sangheili zealots and visible ODSTs. The pods surrounding the castle were a mix of Sangheili, Mgalekgolo, and marines. They would be surrounding the ground floor before entering and attempting to tie down the Ants. The Ants would hopefully realize the most serious threat was those on the ground floor and send the vast majority of their soldiers there. The teams who landed directly in the palace had two goals, as opposed to one: Destroy the Royal Family, and destroy the Royal Guards.
The Demon raised his rifle and pulled the trigger, mowing down a pair of soldier Ants who were apparently patrolling the corridor. The strike team's target was one floor above them, since the dirt construction had proven shoddier than they had calculated for. Carter, as per the plan, would take on any enemies approaching from their rear, freeing the other three. He cocked his submachine guns and entered the first room behind them, and the two Spartans and Sangheili warrior turned away before running down the corridor. Behind them they could hear the clatter of Carter's submachine guns and the howls of a pair of Officers.
Colt ran into the Queen's chamber, where Peggy, Turtle, Octopus, Panda, and Bihorn were already waiting. Colt looked around in surprise.
"Where are the others?" He asked, beginning to panic again.
"Cheetu, Hagya, and Meleoron are patrolling, along with their officers. The others are tied down downstairs." Bihorn said gruffly. "We're the last bastion."
"My life doesn't matter, so long as the king survives!" The Queen shouted, but she realized how stupid that sentiment was and went silent. The king was weeks away from being ready. An explosion rocked the palace, and Colt nearly lost his footing. A Koala walking in on them stumbled to the floor as well. The Covenant had launched a barrage of plasma at an area on the ground floor of the palace with heavy resistance. The marines in the area had backed off prior, and all the soldiers in the area were incinerated. Colt knew Mosquito was in charge of that area, so she was likely dead, unless she had run from the battle. More explosions began rumbling, and a small part of the roof caved in. The wraiths surrounding the palace took the cue of the carrier, and began opening fire, hoping to decimate any anti-aircraft ability the Chimera Ants possessed and, if possible, bring down the palace around their ears.
"We're green, and very, very mean!" Buck shouted, and the pod slid open. He and his squad sprinted out of their pod and fired their silenced submachine guns at the first Ant they saw. It didn't appear to be an Ant though; it looked like a spider. The ODSTs would have been confused if Master Chief hadn't briefed them on what the Chimera Ants were. The Ant was surprised and confused though, and seemed to lack basic reflexes. When they exited, he appeared to be debating with himself what to do, and so he didn't put up any resistance as their bullets tore through his head. The ODSTs continued down the hallway and turned the corner to find themselves in the room they'd heard from Master Chief might be there. They had only heard about it from past Chimera Ant infestations. A pig was standing there in a chef's getup, kneading meat. Human meat. A pile was next to him, waiting for the other Ants to collect and bring to the Queen. Dutch turned away as the other four ODSTs shot at the pig, completely tearing through him. They looked around to get their bearings, and Mickey spotted something he didn't want to spot.
"Hey, Gunny. There's a pile of bones over here." He said, pointing to the huge pile of human skeletons. The skeletons hadn't stayed together when they were thrown haphazardly onto the pile, and so the individual bones could be counted, but the casualties could not. Buck turned and, after taking a moment to process it, nodded curtly. He reached towards his helmet his to report it in, but before he could, he heard a clatter. He raised his SMG and turned to see a man in a pink hat carrying a bow and quiver clamber out of the bones. He shouted at them.
"Hurry!" He shouted. "The Guards are about to hatch!" He turned, obviously expecting them to follow, and began running down a passageway.
"Hold up. Are you an Ant?" Buck shouted after him. He wouldn't accept a verbal response; He needed visual verification. The man turned around and hastily shook his head, raising his arms to show the lack of any exoskeleton or jointed arms. Buck curtly nodded and followed, gesturing for the other ODSTs to as well. As he began running, he activated his comms.
"This is Fireteam Osiris, we've located the stash. We're currently enroute to the Guard room, following a man who claims he is not an ant." Buck reported. To his surprise, Chief responded.
"Understood, please describe the man." Master Chief instructed him.
"Alright, sir. He has a pink hat, a bow, and a quiver full of arrows." He reported.
"Ask his name." Chief demanded. Buck deactivated his comms momentarily.
"Hey, you. What's your name?" Buck shouted after the man. The man gave an over-the-shoulder glance at him.
"Pokkle." The man shouted back. Romeo raised his eyebrow.
"Hey, Gunny. Guess I don't have the worst one anymore!" Romeo said into his comms.
"Shut up, Pokkee, I'm trying to make a call." Buck snapped back. Dutch snorted, and Romeo dropped his head in mock shame as they ran. Buck touched his comms.
"He said his name was Pokkle." Buck reported. Master Chief paused for a moment, before answering. Buck heard a shotgun in the background, and assumed that Chief was locked in combat.
"Alright. Tell him you know me if you need to." Master Chief instructed him. "Go ahead and follow him. You know what to do when you reach the Guards."
"I do indeed, sir." Buck assured him.
Master Chief cut off the communication and gestured forward. They'd already found a centipede-like being, which Thel and Emile easily dispatched by cutting off its arms and blowing off its head, respectively. They'd had their fair share of cannon fodder, things that even the grunts would be able to handle with ease if they weren't intimidated by their looks. They weren't even worth mentioning.
Yunju's tongue flicked out of his mouth, before returning. He leapt out into the hallway that the three intruders were in and began riding at full speed towards them, whooping all the way. He would rip their heads off, and drink their blood! Maybe make the tall lanky one his pet… His tongue flicked again. He neared the trio and reached out for the head of the green one. Before he could adjust, the man grabbed his arm and broke it clean off by shoving his other arm into his elbow, hard. Yunju growled and reached around again, but the man grabbed his throat and crushed it. Yunju's tongue flicked wildly. He couldn't breathe. He felt his legs collapse underneath him, and blackness crept onto the edges of his vision, before he heard a loud noise. The blackness rushed and overtook him as his life left him at the same time as the barrel of Emile's shotgun turned away from his body.
A pelican crew noticed the three males along the edge of the ridge, and flew towards them. Kite saw it approaching them first, with Killua and Gon seeing it soon after. When it reached them, it turned around and a man inside shouted at them.
"Let's get in and make merry, folks! We need to evac you; this valley ain't safe for nobody no more." The sergeant shouted. Gon shook his head.
"We're friends of Master Chief." He said, smiling. The sergeant's eyes widened.
"I see. Well, he wouldn't want you in harm's way, now would he? We're already beginning to pick up the soldiers in the empty villages to get them out. When the op's done, this valley's gonna get glassed!" The sergeant announced. Gon's eyes widened, and a second later, so did Killua's. Chief had told Gon enough stories about glassing that he could share a few with Killua. Kite didn't understand the danger, and so he shrugged. Gon turned to him.
"Alright, if they're gonna glass it, we need to go." Gon announced, and stepped into the pelican. Killua hopped in just after him, and Kite decided it would be best to go along with them. They were the experts here, Kite realized, and he needed to stay out of their way for once.
"We'll pick up the scorpion, and then head back." The sergeant shouted.
"Affirmative!" The pilot shouted, flying towards a village.
Cheetu and his squad ran through the woods, looking for any more of the hooded men with "guns." They hadn't found any for a few minutes, and Cheetu was getting concerned that he was going to run short on entertainment. A screeching interrupted those thoughts, and as he looked up, he saw an enormous ship hurdle through a black portal. It began spewing out… well, Cheetu didn't actually know. But whatever they were, a couple were landing in a nearby village. He decided he might as well go see what they were, and if they posed any threat to him. Upon reaching the perimeter of the village they had cleared a week back, he and his squad stayed just inside the woods to make sure they could not be spotted. Cheetu watched a purple ship of some sort drop a pair of enormous creatures into the village. They had barrels with green stuff connected to it on their right arms, and on their other, had a large… blade? Shield? So many unknowns. The creatures were crouched, with a series of spikes adorning their back. He decided to see if he could have any fun with them and ran up towards them. His squadmates, being slow, were a few hundred feet behind where Cheetu was, but were approaching as fast as they could. The creatures, upon spotting the cheetah-like being, immediately charged up their fuel rod cannons and aimed it at him.
The phantom pointed its mounted auto-cannon at Cheetu. At the same time, the grunt mounting the starboard plasma turret raised his turret towards the cheetah-like being. All three sources fired at the same time, and Cheetu leapt backwards, avoiding the plasma that streamed forth and the pair of explosions. The Mgalekgolo pair ignored Cheetu for a moment, expecting the phantom to begin strafing it. The Mgalekgolo realized their blasts would be incapable of impacting the expedient beast. They turned and began unloading their fuel rod cannons on the incoming tide of Ants, who dodged for the most part, though a few perished. The phantom, instead of continuing to fire on Cheetu, called in banshee support, but was informed it would take a few moments to divert. The grunt was the only one firing on Cheetu, who easily avoided the incoming plasma. Cheetu sprinted behind one of the Mgalekgolo and, grabbing as many Lekgolo as he could, sprinted away. He pulled out too many Lekgolo to sustain the Mgalekgolo, who collapsed. Cheetu laughed and squeezed, crushing the Lekgolo in his hands. His momentary stillness caught him unprepared for the speed and agility the other Mgalekgolo now presented, and he was crushed under the bond brother's arm. The phantom continued to fire on the other Chimera Ants. It was reinforced shortly by another phantom, which dispensed a Sangheili fireteam before the banshees began making their strafing runs. The few surviving Ants turned and ran back into the woods, chased by the Sangheili. The howls of the infestation rose above the screaming of the banshees and the thrum of the phantoms.
Colt shuddered as another round from a wraith hit the side of the palace. He was getting used to the explosions now, and could maintain his balance.
"What do you mean, your books have nothing about this!?" Colt demanded of Peggy. Peggy shrugged.
"They make no mention of the existence of any of this." He said calmly, giving a wide, sweeping gesture out towards the fray. Colt's eyes widened.
"Then what do you suppose we do?" He asked quietly. Peggy smiled a small, sad smile, and reached over. He put the object he had grabbed to his head, and before Colt could stop him, a shot rang out. Colt's mouth hung open, and he rushed over to Peggy's side, shouting his name. But he knew Peggy wouldn't be answering back, opening his eyes, or suffering anymore, ever again.
Chief found the incline they were looking for. It would lead them to the level above, which housed the Queen's chamber. Blocking him at the top of the incline, however, was a female scorpion/human hybrid in a bikini. She smiled at him and raised her stinger, pointing it at them menacingly. Thel activated active camouflage and her smile slipped. She stepped back instinctively and began randomly striking out with her tail in an attempt to strike the Sangheili and land a lucky blow. Master Chief took the opportunity to rush her when her tail was out. He grabbed it and pulled it, yanking her off balance and into his arms. He grabbed her throat and crushed her windpipe like he had done for the centaur. And as with the centaur, Emile blew her head apart. Her body tumbled further down the incline, and the Arbiter's armor's active camouflage dissipated, revealing him once more at the bottom of the incline, having not moved an inch from where he had activated his armor's ability. The three warriors moved beyond the incline, leaving the body to whatever fate might await it. Most likely nothing but glass.
Buck followed the man until they reached three orbs that were suspended from the ceiling. A quick visual check verified the presence of the Guards, and another check revealed that they were, in fact, mere hours away from hatching.
"Well, here's our mission objective, boys!" Buck yelled. "Let's finish the fight!" With that, he raised his SMG and held the trigger down. Inside appeared to be some strange red being that certainly didn't look nearly as human as the rest had. The bullets ripped through the sac, spilling out some fluid that the beast was suspended in. The being flinched after the first few bullets hit him, but after one flew through his temple, he didn't make a movement. As per the instructions, Buck kept firing at the beast until his magazine ran out. He saw Dutch and Romeo had done the same, and he switched out his magazines as the Rookie replaced him at his spot before the sac. The Rookie began firing as Buck reported Osiris had completed its mission objective and was heading towards a balcony, which was previously designated evac point C.
He'd lost contact with Flutter as soon as the ship had emerged. Flutter was supposed to have been delivering the humans they had captured, but looking back, their launch time had corresponded with the time the ship had emerged. Hagya realized around a minute into the attack that it would be pointless to resist, and he'd instructed his soldiers to follow him out of the valley. They were nearing the edge, and they knew that as soon as they broke through, they'd be home fr- Hagya skidded to a halt. He saw before him that the forest had been removed and a barren wasteland took its place, with all the trees toppled over and burnt. Looking out, he saw many of what Peggy had called tanks. These looked different, but not so much that they were unrecognizable. All the same, there were other purple things that floated around just off the ground with a pair of blue incisors atop them. One turned towards the palace and raised the incisors, which glowed blue before roaring. It launched a now-familiar blue orb that they'd been seeing for the past few minutes flashing across the sky and hitting the palace. He knew this one was on a similar trajectory and growled. He couldn't go back, he couldn't go forward, and it was unlikely he'd be safe staying put. He realized he would be better off alone. He'd be far less likely to be seen that way. He pointed towards the forest across the open area, growling.
"That's the exit. If you make it out, run and become your own king!" Hagya roared, and the Ants rushed forward in obedience. It took three seconds for a scorpion tank crew to notice the swarm, and as the machine gunner began firing his withering spread, the pilot fired his main gun into the critical mass of the horde, sending a dozen flying into the air. The explosions attracted the attention of a dozen or so other scorpions and wraiths, who fired on them from varying distances. The swarm's front was cut apart by the barrage from the scorpions, who couldn't hit anything further back. The wraiths didn't have any such issue, and the plasma hit from a steep angle, decimating the mob. The horde began to scatter, and warthogs moved in to cut them off. A pair of ghosts boosted into the fray, splattering as many as they could before whipping around and laying down suppressive fire. The warthogs rumbled over, running over a few Ants while cutting down the rest with surprising accuracy, considering the speed they were going. Hagya was shocked at how quickly this new force tore his apart, and without guns, no less! He turned back towards the woods slowly, but a banshee overhead spotted his obvious bright orange and fired towards it, launching forth a blast from its fuel rod cannon. Hagya noticed the whine of the banshee and dived horizontally out of the way, but the second explosion turned the attention of the closest warthogs, ghosts, and mongeese. Hagya ran as fast as he could away from… well it certainly wasn't a fray anymore. Nevertheless, he heard the a roar of a pair of mongoose as they peaked the embankment behind which he had been hiding moments prior. He heard the whoop of the riding of marines, with their rifles clattering behind him and their bullets whipping past. He made it into the trees and breathed deeply, hoping to have lost them. His hopes were dashed when he heard an indescribably loud whine and looked up to see a ghost boosting towards him. He didn't have time to move out of the way this time, so he held up his hands in an effort to stop it, trusting purely in his strength. His strength didn't approach that of a brute, and they couldn't stop it head-on, much less he. Hagya was dead where he stood, but his body continued to go on for yards before hitting a tree.
The Savior of Humanity acknowledged Buck and closed off his communications.
"They've succeeded, the Guards are no longer a factor. Let's get to the Queen's chambers." Chief said unnecessarily. They had, in fact, just arrived. Inside, they saw a penguin dead on the ground with an M9 on the ground next to him. The second sight they saw was a conglomeration of creatures, including a turtle, an octopus, a minotaur, and a panda. There was one also that looked vaguely human, but not truly like any one specific creature, unlike the others. A koala in a tuxedo was also standing off to the side, watching the whole affair closely. The Queen looked up at them and appeared to be screaming and pointing violently, but Master Chief couldn't hear a word she was saying. The humanoid nodded firmly and turned to them.
"You have trespassed on sacred ground. Turn back at once." He demanded, sprouting wings and pointing towards the door. The Arbiter groaned.
"You know nothing of sacred, parasite. Nay, you are not worthy of even that title. You are a bug, no more." The Arbiter, in his typical reverent voice, was spewing insults that were anything but. The turtle and minotaur clenched their respective equivalent of fists and began circling the three, while the humanoid launched off the ground and began flying above them. The octopus, panda, and koala didn't seem to be involved, though in the koala's case it appeared to be sheer disinterest. The turtle lunged for the Arbiter at the same moment as the great minotaur charged at Emile. The humanoid dived towards Chief at a speed exceeding that of gravity.
The Arbiter's sword cut through metal, and had no trouble slicing through the turtle's shell. The being gasped as it was skewered on the end of the Arbiter's blade. The Arbiter swung upward quickly, cutting the turtle in half. The minotaur wasn't stunned to see the man leap out of the way of his blind charge, but was surprised to hear the blast of a shotgun and feel back cave in. His only experiences had been with normal humans who, if they could dodge, would be unable to fire their weapon until a few moments afterwards. Spartans were entirely new to him, and he was not given any substantial period to adjust his fighting style. He fell to the ground, still conscious, and opened his eyes to see Emile's boot on his eye level. It lifted above said eye level and came down on his head expediently, which gave under the stronger force of Emile's boot.
The Master Chief had traded out his rifle for his SMGs a few minutes back, so when he raised them and held the trigger, more bullets came out per second than his rifle could ever hope to match. The humanoid's face caved inwards, and he fell through the floor with a crash. The panda, octopus, and koala were stunned by the quick and heavy-handed defeat, and the koala attempted to run out the exit on the other end of the Queen's chamber. A knife appeared out of the air, and the koala was raised off the ground, held in the air by Kat. The Spartans deactivated their camouflage and held the Ant prisoner, leaving the other two beings the sole defenders of the Queen. Chief walked up to the pair and put an SMG to each's head. The octopus suicidally attempted to stab Master Chief in the side, and the final four bullets in the SMG's magazine were dispensed, leaving the octopus with one hole in one end of his head and one misshapen one in the other. The panda made no such courageous effort and put its hands in the air. The Arbiter was confused.
"Spartan, if I may be so bold, what is the purpose in keeping this vermin…" He gestured at the panda and then the koala. "…alive? I thought they were similar to the Flood." He finished. Chief turned to the Arbiter.
"They are. The individuals have a somewhat independent will when the Queen births human-enhanced beings, and so they could be used for questioning. They have an individual mind, unlike that of the feral forms of the Flood." He finished, giving an explanation that satisfied Thel's curiosity. The Queen screamed silently, in both rage at her and her minions' failures and in mourning at the loss of not only her colony and probably herself, but at the loss of her king. The Arbiter approached her and in an unintentional act of mercy, sliced off her head. She would not have to see her child perish. The Arbiter then sliced the sac holding the king open, and the king spilled out onto the floor, amidst the liquid that was ensuring his continued development. The king wouldn't last much longer outside of the development capsule, and everyone in the room knew it, but Emile still raised his shotgun and blasted the king's body once, shattering its frail form. Emile didn't mind winning, but what he really wanted was for the enemy to die.
Meleoron sat on the ridge where, unbeknownst to him, Gon, Killua, and Kite had sat mere minutes prior. He breathless from running, and thankful for a break. A pair of falcons had discovered and torn through his entire squad with their chain guns and machine gun side armaments, even though they had ducked behind trees. The most powerful weapon they had yet faced were AK-47s operated by NGL government goons, so when trees began being cut apart by the force of the chain gun, only Meleoron realized he wasn't safe where he was. He had called for the others to run, but they couldn't hear him over the chattering and clattering of the spraying bullets. Inhaling deeply, Meleoron saw, around halfway across the valley, the swarms of fighters beginning to return to the enormous carrier. Some of the dropships mimicked the action, pulling the soldiers out from around the palace and those who had been dropped in empty villages. Meleoron saw a wave of dropships begin to spread out from underneath the assault carrier, heading towards what he saw now were occupied villages they had either missed or had not been infiltrated yet. Meleoron realized that meant that likely, the Queen herself was dead, and the king and Royal Guards were as well. The battle was over, and not only had his side lost, they'd been massacred. They would finish picking up their soldiers and the villagers before they left. Well, his comrades in the woods would be able to hide out if they were, and maybe, just maybe, they could rebuild. Maybe he could even be king!
Kite, Gon, Killua, and Pokkle sat together, looking downwards. The floor was see-through. They didn't know the reason, but it was to allow newer crew members to view the glassing of a planet and become enraptured in the purity of the endeavor. The last dropship, a phantom, arrived in the hangar, and it was promptly sealed. It carried a wraith beneath it and four Mgalekgolo, quite a heavy load. For nearly all the U.N.S.C. personnel and many of the Covenant, it was their first time seeing a friendly glassing, although the Covenant had experienced those more often than the U.N.S.C. forces had. They weren't going to glass the entire planet, of course, but the civilian populace had been uplifted from any occupied village. The falcons and phantoms that hovered over the exits to the valley remained, to ensure no Ant made their final escape just before the glassing. They knew that as soon as the excavation beam began charging, they were to turn away and fly away as expediently as they could, so they wouldn't be caught up in the blast wave. The Impeccable Solitude began doing just that, and Gon saw the phantoms and falcons follow the plan to the ink drop. He heard a sound that confused him greatly, but that made some of the U.N.S.C. personnel flinch. A few Sangheili rested their hands on their shoulders in both empathy and apology. The sound was like the very air itself being sucked into a pipe, never to escape. It was hard to tell at his angle, but he could just see the bottom of the hooked bow beginning to glow. Killua, Kite, and Pokkle were staring as well, unable to tear their eyes away. A moment later they had to, with the blinding flash of the initial blast and the roar of the explosion overwhelming their senses. When Gon could open his eyes again, he saw the valley had seemingly caved in on itself, with an enormous pit instead of the lush forest that had dominated the view mere minutes prior. The pit itself looked to be glowing, and at the center, where the Chimera Ant castle had once proud and erect, there was nothing but a solid beam of light that still burned through the material below it, cleansing the catacombs of the infestation and removing the rest of the Ants below the palace. They heard systematic, smaller explosion that conglomerated into a cacophony of noise, and realized the Impeccable Solitude had begun hurling enormous plasma blasts at the mountainsides, intending to smash anyone remaining on them. Pokkle started staring upwards in silence. The plasma hit the mountainside, and the next volley hit just below it, and the subsequent ones slowly made their way towards rim of the crater. Any Ants outside the blast zone would be incinerated by the incoming plasma, though there wasn't much land that needed to be blasted. The original blast from the Impeccable Solitude had destroyed around ninety percent of the land area in the valley. Gon didn't notice the rest, being unable to stop staring at the beam, laying down its fire and continuing to bore a hole into the depths of the planet. The beam suddenly thinned before dissipating, Gon's mouth opened wide at the sight of the enormous glowing hole in the middle of the crater. While the crater glowed a dull red, the hole glowed a bright white, and seemingly stretched to the bowels of the earth. Kite was in absolute shock and turned towards the nearest Sangheili.
"What…What did you do?" Kite asked, leaning on the Sangheili for support. The Sangheili turned and looked down at him solemnly.
"We performed what you humans call 'glassing.' We have purged this infestation, but this valley will be uninhabitable for many rotations to come. It will return to life faster than most, since we did not glass the entire planet, and the life from the planet itself may restore itself here." The Sangheili was calm, but Kite was surprised.
"The entire planet?" He asked, shocked. A hand set itself on his shoulder, and he turned to see a man in green armor staring down on him.
"Yes. This ship would take days to do it alone, but if it gathered a fleet together, they could glass a planet in hours." Kite recognized the deep, cold voice of the Master Chief. "This was who we fought for twenty seven years."
That would be an A-level. If the Chimera Ants learned nen and had birthed its king, it would be a B-level threat. They were merely from the Dark Continent, which itself was A-level, and if the Covenant showed up in hostility, they would be on the same level as the entire continent.
The crater cooled, and the onlookers could see the distorted reflection of the ship gleaming up at them.
Meleoron stood and stretched. Well, all the dropships had returned to the ship, save a few at the entrances and exits of the valley. The ship looked like it'd be leaving sometime soon; maybe leaving a couple dozen choppers and dropships to guard the valley and ensure any survivors were hunted down. He turned to head down the side of the mountain and leave the valley forever, but stopped and looked back. He had heard a sound that sounded like the air being removed. Were they going to suck up all the forest in the valley? He saw the choppers and dropships flying away from the valley probably as fast as they could, and realized he should do the same. Meleoron smiled and grabbed a cigarette, lighting it. He stood in a relaxed posture, watching as the bottom of the hook began to glow brilliantly. Suddenly, a blinding flash of light and an explosive noise knocked him onto his back. He wasn't surprised to see the blinding flash of light, nor hear the explosion, but he hadn't ever seen anything on this magnitude. When he could get up, the first thing he noted was that his cigarette was completely out. The second was that most of the valley was gone, replaced by a large, smoldering crater. The hook still produced a beam of light that was boring deep into the place where, moments prior, the Chimera Ant palace had stood high above the surrounding valley, even against the punishment dealt out by the… Uh, he didn't know what they were. He regained his senses then, and in the process, he recognized that anyone not near or on the mountains had perished instantly. He heard the sound of small explosions in the distance, and looked up to see a spread of glowing blue orbs plummeting towards the mountains and the exits of the valley. He paused, taking in the oddly gorgeous sight of the plasma arcing in a 360 degree spread, before turning and-
The plasma impact left nothing behind, and the subsequent impacts destroyed any remaining life, Ant or otherwise, within the valley.
"Oh, Gon and Killua." Cortana said, breaking the tension and silence following the extermination of an entire species, save two members. The two tore their gaze away from the pit that had been teeming with life. Killua was not nearly as affected as Gon, but he was clearly slightly troubled by the lengths that had been required to put down the Ants, the fact that they had just witnessed a true genocide, and the fact that while he was certainly not outmatched by anyone in the room, save maybe the Savior of Humanity himself, the efficiency they had demonstrated could rival that of an assassin.
"Yes?" Killua asked, hiding his fear from one of the few people he could consider a friend.
"Have you two learned your hatsu yet?" Cortana asked cheerfully. The concern and shock began to melt from Gon's face, and Killua nodded.
"Can you show us?" Cortana asked politely to the two. Killua nodded, but Gon shook his head.
"I need lots of space." He mentioned, concerned. To tell the truth, he didn't know what would happen if he didn't dispense his aura after pulling it all to his hand.
"Follow us." Cortana instructed, and Chief walked towards the nearest vehicle bay. Most of the vehicles were still attached to phantoms, and the ones that weren't were being put into the rear vehicle bays first.
Killua snapped his left hand's fingers, and a bolt of lightning arced between them. He paused, before raising his right hand and unleashing more lightning between the two. The dozen or so Sangheili that followed the Spartan nodded approvingly.
"That's all I can do right now." Killua said. "Because of space, that is." Killua added quickly. He didn't want to appear weak, but he couldn't show his Godspeed here. Master Chief nodded and clapped his hands a few times in approval, before turning to Gon. Gon nodded firmly before he balled his right fist and crouched.
"First comes rock!" Gon shouted, and what looked like fire appeared to encompass his fist.
"Rock… Paper… Rock!" He exclaimed, raising his fist and bringing it upwards. He paused for a fraction of a second, realizing he didn't have a target to punch, and he certainly didn't want to damage the ship. His eyes darted, before locking onto a crate a few feet to his right. He took a couple steps forward and brought his arm up all the way, impacting the crate dead center. It flew backwards and hit an empty wraith, denting the armor on it. The Sangheili who had gathered would have raised their eyebrows if they had had them. A few more had begun to gather, and a pair of bond brothers stopped watch the demonstration. Gon crouched again.
"First comes rock!" He repeated, and the same fire as before appeared around his fist. He located a crate to his left that was a few dozen feet away. "Rock… Paper… Paper!" He pointed propelled his fist towards the crate. He couldn't physically hit the crate, and the watching Sangheili knew that. His aura, however, could, and it disconnected from his fist, propelling itself the distance. It did hit the crate and knock it over, but the attack was weaker than before. The Sangheili didn't know it, but since Gon's second attack wasn't from his own nen category, it had less of an effect. A school of around twenty Unggoy stopped to watch. They hadn't participated in the attack; with any specialist needs done by the Sangheili and Spartans and all true combat done by Mgalekgolo, humans, and vehicles. The Unggoy certainly weren't complaining. They heard the clatter as the crate seemingly merely tipped over, and stopped to watch. Gon walked over to another crate, before crouching a third time and balling a fist.
"First comes rock!" He shouted again. His fist turned to flame once more, but this time he pointed his middle and index fingers outward. The flame mimicked the stretching of his fingers, and extended with it.
"Rock… Paper… Scissors!" He exclaimed, making a horizontal swiping motion with his fingers. The crate was cleanly cut into two nearly equal parts. The top "half" flung off and clattered to the ground a few feet away. Gon breathed heavily, exhausted. He couldn't hold his Ren for much longer than about twenty minutes, and hatsu was harder. The Sangheili began to applaud, praising the boy's combat skill. The Unggoy obediently began clapping as well, before turning away. Gon nodded respectfully towards them before turning back to Chief, who was nodding.
"Now, show us your hatsu!" Gon exclaimed, pointing at Master Chief. Chief nodded, but held up his hand.
"Stand back." He warned the boys and the gathering Sangheili. All of them stepped backwards, some greater distances than others, and Killua gasped as Master Chief unleashed his nen ability.
"Cool!" He shouted, excited.
Pokkle sat on his knees, staring down as the beam continued to raze the surface below. Grimly, he raised his head into the air.
Ponzu, can you hear us? We are playing a Requiem for you.
My first fanfiction. There is a second one in the works that is actually a prequel to this.
The only semi-intentional OOCs were the fact that yes, I'm sure the initial blast radius for an assault carrier blast isn't around seven kilometers. It just sounded cooler to have the valley be nothing but a giant pit. And yes, Master Chief has friends. Probably the most major OOC in the history of OOCs. Other than that, well, please read and review.